Landscape Artists International

France, Italy and the US - Flower Painting Workshops

French Village is the newest landscape in Flower Mound Studio, and if the cold weather holds up much longer I'm going to have to relocate my studio! My big studio window lets in so much cold that by the end of each evening's painting session, my toes and fingers are numb. I've tried plugging in space heaters but always blow the circuits here in the front studio. Holy cow I'm going to have to get some hand and foot warmer thingies from the sports store if this cold snap continues much longer! I hope it's warmer where you are. I'm headed to Florida in a few days to teach. My hostess said the weather was 72 degrees yesterday. I can only vaguely remember warm weather, can you?

French Village on the easel

Thursday, December 25, 2014

Abundance Poppies - Poppy Flower Paintings by Nancy Medina

http://nancymedina.fineartstudioonline.com/workszoom/1639406

Abundance Poppies by Nancy Medina

30X40

Oil on Deep Gallery Wrap Canvas

France, Italy and the US - Flower Painting Workshops

Abundance Poppies is the newest floral in Flower Mound Studio, finished on Christmas Day - I'm warming up my poppy brushes for poppy bloom in Tuscany in June. Mom and I had Christmas cookies for dinner last night, and this morning we had Christmas breakfast with friends. Carlos is in the kitchen doing what he loves best, cooking - and I have requests for two more plates of holiday cookies before the week is done. I hope you are doing something you love today, with loved ones nearby, and you have much abundance coming your way for the New Year. Holy cow it will be 2015 before we know it!

Warming up the red brushes on Christmas Day!

Detail from Abundance

Wednesday, December 10, 2014

Tuscan Skies Poppy Fields - Paintings by Nancy Medina

http://nancymedina.fineartstudioonline.com/workszoom/1629363

Tuscan Skies Poppy Fields

by Nancy Medina

11X14

Oil on Cradled Hardboard

France, Italy and the US - Flower Painting Workshops

Join me for poppy bloom in Tuscany!

Tuscan Skies Poppy Field is the daily newbie in Flower Mound Studio, looking forward to my workshop in Tuscany in the spring, as the temperatures outside drop to wintertime temps! It's tough being a full time artist when you have to make "public" appearances - digging through all my jeans to find something without paint on it, trying to remember to wear something at least slightly presentable. The workplace dress code, after all, is fluffy slippers and scruffy pullovers when one works at home in an art studio. It doesn't help matters that my four helpers run about naked as the day they were born, save for their little fur coats. I shouldn't complain, though, I still don't regret throwing away the big ole pile of panty hose when I quit the corporate world last year! I can't imagine any scenario which would require me to ever wear panty hose again. Clearly these were invented by men....

http://nancymedina.fineartstudioonline.com/page/4793/june-6-13-2015-tuscany-italy

Friday, November 21, 2014

French Market Flower Quest and a Sonoma Workshop - Flower Paintings by Nancy Medina

http://nancymedina.fineartstudioonline.com/workszoom/1615425

French Market Flower Quest

by Nancy Medina

14X14

Oil on Gallery Wrap Canvas

France, Italy and the US - Flower Painting Workshops

French Market Flower Quest is the daily newbie in Flower Mound Studio, I needed a color burst to balance "real life" today - I attended my first jury duty calling. I was quite nervous, which seems odd, considering my mother worked in the district clerk's office for almost 20 years. Something about the thought of being asked my name and my job by a judge with the power to send me to jail had me all in a tizzy. But I must say, it made me reflect on something rather profound - I was about to say, under oath, the following words:

I am an artist

How wonderful is that? There is something life affirming, color affirming, art journey affirming, about that moment under oath. The truth, your honor, and nothing but the truth. What happened? Read more....

http://events.r20.constantcontact.com/register/event?oeidk=a07ea2sq1hfb9b9197c&llr=lmrhfmcab

Paint Brilliant Sonoma

May 29-31, 2015

Painting Silk Scarves and Florals in Sonoma, California - Nancy Medina Art

http://nancymedina.com/workszoom/1607426

Rainbow Vintage Grapes

by Nancy Medina

14X14

Oil on Gallery Wrap Canvas

France, Italy and the US - Flower Painting Workshops

I'm super excited about my first Sonoma, California workshop in the spring, we'll be painting brilliant florals, and also be dipping into some fun silk scarf painting projects. You are invited to join me, but don't delay, class is filling super fast! I can't imagine a more beautiful place on the West Coast to paint in the spring, I'm already picturing sunrises over the vineyards, rolling hills, and yards and yards of silk covered in bright flowers! I need to calm down and go eat some chocolate or something...

Painting Silk Scarves and Brilliant Florals

Sonoma, California

May 29-31, 2015

Class Information

http://nancymedina.fineartstudioonline.com/workszoom/1607426

Creating brilliant color on silk!

Wednesday, November 12, 2014

Wooly Lunch Crowd - Paintings by Nancy Medina

http://nancymedina.fineartstudioonline.com/workszoom/1606651

Wooly Lunch Crowd

by Nancy Medina

14X14

Oil on Gallery Wrap Canvas

France, Italy and the US - Flower Painting Workshops

Wooly Lunch Crowd is one of my favorite memories from Southern France this summer. This week I'm packing up supplies and paints for San Diego, California, and a week of painting in Balboa Park, one of the most beautiful places to visit in Southern California. Stay tuned to my art bloggy, I'll share photos from the trip!

Monday, November 10, 2014

Big Dreams, Big Color - French Dreams Lavender Fields - Paintings by Nancy Medina

http://nancymedina.fineartstudioonline.com/workszoom/1605743

French Dreams Lavender Fields

by Nancy Medina

30X30

Oil on Gallery Wrap Canvas

France, Italy and the US - Flower Painting Workshops

French Dreams Lavender Fields is another little memory on a big canvas, with a bit of bright color, a fond memento from Southern France. Both of my southern France workshops for August 2015 are just about full, but I do have 2 seats left and would love for you to join me and experience the painting excursion/vacation/dream getaway of a lifetime! Read more...

Saturday, November 8, 2014

How to Shop Open Air Markets of France - French Dahlias Flower Market - Paintings by Nancy Medina

http://nancymedina.fineartstudioonline.com/workszoom/1604571

French Dahlias Flower Market

by Nancy Medina

14X14

Oil on Gallery Wrap Canvas

France, Italy and the US - Flower Painting Workshops

French Dahlias Flower Market is another memento from my trip to Southern France this year. I have so many wonderful photos of flower markets and brightly colored umbrellas it was hard to decide which one to paint. The umbrellas in the open air markets were all shapes and sizes, and many looked like they were well into middle age, sagging here and there, but still colorfully standing sentinel over their wares.

Southern France is very different than the US, there are few fast food places, grocery stores or shopping malls. People there really do visit these centuries-old markets for their bread, cheese, meats, fresh eggs and flowers. How does one shop in an open air market? Read more...

Friday, November 7, 2014

French Laundry or Giving a Shirt the Slip - Paintings by Nancy Medina

http://nancymedina.fineartstudioonline.com/workszoom/1602365

French Laundry

by Nancy Medina

14X14

Oil on Gallery Wrap Canvas

France, Italy and the US - Flower Painting Workshops

It's shocking what happens in Flower Mound Studio after dark sometimes! This scene from my visit to Southern France started out as a perfectly innocent and sedate laundry on the line kind of painting, and then a little breeze kicked up and the slip started some shameless flirting with the shirt and it was all downhill from there. The little dress is clearly trying to give the shirt the slip. At the very least, she's going to show him who wears the pants in the family, while the bystanders were just left hanging out to dry!

I mentioned a few days ago how utterly excited I am to be teaching in the wine country in May, and class is filling fast. Apparently I'm not the only person who's looking forward to sipping some vino while making brilliant colors bloom during the peak of flower season in Sonoma, CA. I've saved a decanter with your name on it! Read more about my workshops here...

Paint Brilliant Sonoma

May 29-31, 2015

Sonoma, California

Wednesday, November 5, 2014

French Rendezvous Romantic Kitty and a Sonoma, California, Workshop - Paintings by Nancy Medina

http://nancymedina.fineartstudioonline.com/workszoom/1601482

French Rendezvous

Romantic Kitty in France

by Nancy Medina

16X12

Oil on Archival Panel

France, Italy and the US - Flower Painting Workshops

For someone who spent almost a decade living in California, it's a bit embarrassing to admit I never visited one of the most famous places, the wine country of Sonoma. That's one reason I'm so excited to be teaching a workshop there next spring, strategically scheduled for the height of the local flower bloom season! I can hardly wait to share photos with you from my trip, so I'll be marking off the days on my calendar until then. Just a week after Sonoma, I'm heading to Tuscany, Italy to teach during the height of poppy bloom season. What a lucky duck I am, to have this job as an art teacher with my own art business, and I'm not just saying that because every day is casual day, either...! You are invited to join me for the painting getaway of your dreams. Put a little joy in your brush and let's make brilliant flowers bloom together next Spring!

Painting Florals in the

Wine Country of Sonoma, CA

May 29-31, 2015

Registration Information

Tuesday, November 4, 2014

French Shades Flower Market - French and Floral Paintings by Nancy Medina

http://nancymedina.fineartstudioonline.com/workszoom/1600206

French Shades Flower Market

by Nancy Medina

14X14

Oil on Gallery Wrap Canvas

France, Italy and the US - Flower Painting Workshops

I was fascinated by the big sunglasses this fashionable shopper wore during her shopping spree in the flower markets of Southern France during my visit there in September. Her cute platform shoes and orange linen silk lined dress aside, she was tres chic as she gathered up the best of the market, the orange glads that shone from a distance of over 200 feet, as I happily - blissfully - snapped photos of colorful umbrellas and beautiful blossoms as quickly as my IPhone would allow.

I pulled a sign from one of my St. Cirq la Popie village photos into the mix, as this wonderful old building to the right just seemed to call for a bit more bling. The yellow umbrella, the stands filled with colorful red and peach geraniums, and the blue delphiniums were all part of the original photo. I'll be sharing all of my favorite French photos for paintalongs during my French Landscape and floral workshop in Irving, Texas, in December. I can hardly wait to share all the sights and sounds and even some of my favorite desserts with my students! I'm saving a chocolate croissant with your name on it, mon cher! Read more...

Tuesday, October 28, 2014

French Boutique Bichon - Floral and French Paintings by Nancy Medina

http://nancymedina.fineartstudioonline.com/workszoom/1596796

French Boutique Bichon

by Nancy Medina

14X14

Oil on Gallery Wrap Canvas

France, Italy and the US - Flower Painting Workshops

French Boutique Bichon is the daily newbie from Flower Mound Studio, a fond remembrance from my trip to Southern France in September. The countdown to the Paint France in Dallas giveaway has begun! In just a few days, you can enter to win a free painting workshop in North Texas with me. The workshop will take place on December 13 and will last all day. We'll have snacks, prizes, and an entire day of making brilliant color bloom on canvas. I can hardly wait I am so excited! I hope you are too!

How to win? Stay tuned to my art bloggy for the details. But watch closely, the first 10 people who respond when the contest opens will be the winners!

Saturday, October 25, 2014

Frayssinet Sunset - French Landscapes and Flower Paintings by Nancy Medina

http://nancymedina.fineartstudioonline.com/workszoom/1593365

Frayssinet Sunset

by Nancy Medina

12X12

Oil on Gallery Wrap Canvas

France, Italy and the US - Flower Painting Workshops

Frayssinet Sunset is the newest daily in Flower Mound Studio, based on my recent visit to Southern France. I'll be teaching in this charming village next August, and can hardly wait to return. Tomorrow we'll be filming a new video in North Texas, so I did a little flower shopping today with Howard Pee Pugpants at the nursery here in Flower Mound. I hardly had time to put the pugmobile in park when the first crowd of adoring fans stepped up to greet Mister Howard, with pats and exclamations of his absolute handsomeness. Howard loves an audience and all the attention that comes with it, and gave several slobbery autographs before helping me pick out just the right blossoms to paint on camera tomorrow. What on earth would I do without my studio helpers to guide me in the right direction each day?

Tuesday, October 21, 2014

Blue Rain Bluebonnets - Flower Paintings by Nancy Medina

Blue Rain Bluebonnets

by Nancy Medina

24X20

Oil on Gallery Wrap Canvas

France, Italy and the US - Flower Painting Workshops

France, Italy and the US - Flower Painting Workshops

Blue Rain Bluebonnets is a new commission under construction in Flower Mound Studio tonight. I was asked to really punch up some color in this painting, so I hope the new owner likes bright violets and blues! This weekend I head to the Dallas Arboretum for my final workshop of the year in the gardens, one of my friends who works there has taken the plunge and is going to take the workshop as a bran new painter. I work with new painters step by step, showing them how to set up their palettes and use their tools, so I'm excited to introduce her to the world of bright color in oils. There are only 2 seats left, and I've saved a Dallas Arboretum pumpkin with your name on it mon cher! You are cordially invited to join me there Saturday for my only one-day workshop! Read more...

Friday, September 5, 2014

The Bells of Frayssinet and Sing to Me Poppies - Flower Paintings by Nancy Medina

Sing to Me Poppies

by Nancy Medina

16X20

Oil on Archival Panel

Sold

My new DVD

I finally have my land legs here in Frayssinet as I write this post for you from the Lot Valley in Southern France. The church photo below is the view from my bedroom window at Le Vieux Couvent, a 17th Century convent converted into an artist school and retreat. I can lean out my blue shuttered window, resting my elbows on the thick, ancient stone wall, and see the stars so clearly tonight.There is nothing but perfect silence outside, except for the historic bells.

Every few hours, the bells ring from the village church here in this medieval village. Years ago, the this was how the townsfolk were able to tell what time it was, and it helped the workers in the fields know when it is time to come in for meals. Now the bells toll for a different purpose. Read more...

Join me in Southern France ~ August 2015

Tuesday, September 2, 2014

When In France Poppy Fields - Flower Paintings by Nancy Medina

http://nancymedina.fineartstudioonline.com/workszoom/1549958

When In France Poppy Field

by Nancy Medina

14X14

Oil on Gallery Wrap Canvas

France, Italy and the US - Flower Painting Workshops

My new DVD

When In France Poppy Field is the daily newbie in Flower Mound Studio. British Airways sent us a countdown clock to check in this evening, along with destination sights and suggestions, weather guides (it's low 80s during the day, high 50s at night!), and all sorts of ideas for ways we can spend our one day in Toulouse before heading to Frayssinet in Southern France. Read more...

Friday, August 29, 2014

Rhapsody in Blue Lavender and a French Dream Workshop - Flower Paintings by Nancy Medina

http://nancymedina.fineartstudioonline.com/workszoom/1546764

Rhapsody in Blue Lavender

by Nancy Medina

16X20

Oil on Archival Panel

France, Italy and the US - Flower Painting Workshops

My new DVD

I'm warming up my lavender brushes this week, because next week they'll be dipping into the colors of France! I'll be visiting the property where my August 2015 workshop will be held, testing the gelato, deciding which cheeses are the most yummy, and sipping the local vintage a time or three. It's a tough job, but somebody's got to do it! My first France workshop filled in 2 days, so I opened a second workshop and I'm holding a seat especially for you. Don't delay, there are only a few seats left for a painting adventure designed to make your lavender dreams come true!

Painting Brilliant Florals in France

With Nancy Medina

August 4-14, 2015

Le Vieux Couvent

Registration Information

Thursday, August 28, 2014

Dreams Come True and Texas Hill Country Lavender - Flower Paintings by Nancy Medina

http://nancymedina.fineartstudioonline.com/workszoom/1545899

Hill Country Melody Lavender

by Nancy Medina

14X14

Oil on Gallery Wrap Canvas

France, Italy and the US - Flower Painting Workshops

My new DVD

If you could take a workshop anywhere in the world, where would your heart and your paint brush lead you? Just when I think my new job as a full time artist and teacher could not get any better, another fringe benefit blossoms right before my eyes. Thanks to my talented, motivated and beautiful students, I've been able to find venues and ideas for teaching flower painting workshops around the world that seemed like just an unreachable dream a year ago.

One of my favorite places to teach is in the Texas Hill Country, and some of my favorite family vacation memories are right here amidst these old stone farmhouses, in particular Settlers Crossing, a B&B five miles from this historic German town. Plans are in the works for another workshop in Fredericksburg next spring, so stay tuned to my workshop page for details to come. Thanks so much Jane for making this dream come true!

Detail from Hill Country Melody

Saturday, August 16, 2014

Yes, Virginia, There Is a Flower Mound - Flower Paintings by Nancy Medina

http://nancymedina.fineartstudioonline.com/workszoom/1536425

Flower Mound Trail

by Nancy Medina

14X14

Oil on Gallery Wrap Canvas

France, Italy and the US - Flower Painting Workshops

My new DVD